I am finally ready to show you my kitchen refresh! This will be a picture heavy post. You might want to get nice and comfy. I will say that I had a really hard time getting some of these pictures. I could not get the lighting right. So, lets just pretend they all look really professional! ;)
Here it is finished.
This is the before picture.
After I painted the walls I knew that cabinets would have to be next. That is the bad thing about painted cabinets they tend to show wear a little easier. An easy, yet, time consuming fix. Painting the cabinets had been on my radar for well over a year. It never seemed to make it to the top of the to do list. I have had my eye on cabinets that had bead board in the center. New cabinets are certainly not in my budget! Last year I had purchased some wallpaper with the look of bead board.
Once the doors were prepped I added the paper to the center. My dad has suggested that we run a bead of caulk around the edge to prevent the corners from coming loose. Chuck agreed that was a good idea. My amazing hubby spent an evening taking care of that for me. It really finished them off. Unless you touch them you can not tell that the cabinet doors weren't purchased this way.
I painted them antique white. For two reasons. Number one I had the paint left over from painting the end tables and number two my appliances are the color called bisque . Basically off white.
I am delighted with how they turned out!
Now that all of the hard stuff was out of the way the fun began. I had some things that I had been saving. The thought was that I would use them if we ever moved and I had a larger kitchen. It is not super likely that we will move. I decide that this is where I have been planted and I need to make this a place that I love. An afternoon was spent digging out my treasures and cleaning them up.
I started with the corner cabinet.
I used an old milk cooler my father-in-law has given me. It says "Loaned by Banquet Ice Cream and Milk Company." I did purchase the milk bottles to go along with it. There is a pottery pitcher peeking out in the back.
I added two half gallon jars. One belonged to Chuck's great-grandmother, Dora, and the other one to his step grandmother, Barbara. I also added a jug that we found when we were chasing roots on the old family farm after my grandfather, Pop, passed away. My mom told me that this jug was used to hold homemade root beer. I remember homemade root beer at Mom and Pops!
This shelf is above the refrigerator. Chuck went to pick up some steel recycle from my cousin and ended up coming home with a box of vintage Blue Mason jars. He does speak my love language! I repurposed a wooden tray that Chuck had made years ago to hold pots of herbs in the kitchen window. Now I know they won't come tumbling off of the shelf!
When Grandma Barbara passed away last year we were able to go through her apartment and take whatever we wanted. I ended up taking a wooden cheese box and an ice pick.
I love that the box is stamped with the price!
I spruced up the top of cabinets. Getting rid of some things, moving things around and borrowing from other areas of my home.
Above the sink I added a new valance, an old scale from my father-in-law, the chicken wire basket that the plants are in is something for my niece's bridal shower. When I purchased it I this is mind with it for after the shower.
My favorite thing is the addition of the scale! This is one of the things I was saving for a larger kitchen. I am extremely happy that I decided to go ahead and use it. It makes me smile every time I see it. It is also handy for holding fruit and freeing up counter space!
The soda crate is something that my mom gave me several years ago. I am not sure, but I assume it came from her parents. Her parents grew up on farms during the Great Depression and were newly married during WWII. They always had the neatest stuff because they never threw anything away!
Again the finished product.
You all know I do things on a budget, so here is the break down for the kitchen refresh:
Wall Paint = Free (used leftover paints to mix a new color)
Cabinet Paint = Free (used paint leftover from another project)
Window Valance = $11
Decor = $20
Total $31
If I add the wallpaper that was purchased a year ago it would bring the total of this refresh to
$61.
The thing I like most about this space is that is filled with things that have meaning to me. I am loving this space!
May your day be filled with joy and contentment!
